Mail-catcher.



' ,WITNESSES C. PETTIGREW.

MAIL CATCHER.

APPLICATION FILED. SEPT. 30. 1918.

1,300,005.- Patnted Apr. 8,1919.

' INVENTOR ATTORNEY ojcwemnrereieaewg or Ptimeas ms;assesses; I v

I r Application flledsepte mber80;19183 SeriaINo1256l27i;f

To. aZZ whOm-t may concern; .1

Be it known that I, CYNTHIA 'PETTIGREV,

,a citizen of the United" States, residing at J-Plantersville'; inuthecountylof Leeand-State i of Mi'ssissippi,- have; invented certaln'; IIGW':

and useful Improvements inv Mailcatch ers,

ofwhich'thef'ollowing is a specification.

production .1 oi simple and efficient ineans for automatically closing thegreceii'ing-apparatus .as soon as a mail bag hasbeen deu livered thereto.

Another objectof this invention the production "of" a simple and aefiioient means fora-holding the ina'il J -baig receiving device rinzan open or recelvlng POSIUOIL, and at the sametnne permitting thesamejto be auto-g;;

4 xniaticallv.released as soonas a .mailibag has been thrown in engagement therewith.

lVVith these and otherobjects in view, this invention consists of certain novel construe tier-is; combinations; and arrangements of parts as will be hereinafter fully described and claimed.

In the drawmgsz Figure 1 is a perspective view of themail bag receiving apparatus; and, A Y Fig. 2 15 a transverse section therethrough looklng down from the top of the device.

By referring to the drawings it will be seen that 1 designates; a standard which supports a top plate 2 near the'uppe'r end there of and this top plate 2 may be'inade of any suitable or desired material such as metal and is provided with suitable projecting ears 3. A pintle pin 4 is journaled upon the ears 3 asshown in Fig. 1 and this pin] extends through a sleeve, 5 oi the mailbag receiving member. This mailbag receiving ll'lefllbel comprisesa pluralityot projecting substantially curved fingers 6 arranged in] spaced relation upon the sleeve 5* as shown clearly in Fig.1 of thedrawing. The outer ends of these fingers 6 are beveled as indicated at 7 for the purpose of permitting the outer ends of 'the fingers to firmly fit against the plate 2 when the fingers 6 are m a. closed position, such as'is shown in dotted lines in Fig. 2 ofthe drawing. Aron necting bar 8 extends transversely.across the fingers 6 asv shown in Fig. 1' and thus bar is adapted to assist 1n holdlngrthe outer ends of the fingers 6 in spaced relation. A: latching hook 9 which consists of a sleeve having spaced claws 10' is hingedly secured Specification Letters Pam.

Tretaining bar I2 zaboveainentioned pivotally ,securedytojthe rear ifaeeot athe This-invention relates to a majilj-bag vre- 1 ceiving apparatusmnd has. fori-itsobject the Patented, Apr. 8, 1919 a upon the connecting; or reinforcing bar a and these claws adame, to engage thecross head 11 of theretainingebarrl2, which."

-giveslthe bar a ,tsubstantially Tfshaped COHStLLICElOITM11118" outerend; in;

plate-' 2 by means of a '"pivot; connections-13 shown in" FigIJ-Q. andethis bar attends lat: ally I from; the plate 2', and proJeetsqlnthe reaii of the :mail bag receiving apparatus;

The laterally extending fingersll- "arefadapte ed tobe engagedxbyvthe hooked elidsilflrof arms-G will be held in an operative position ready to receive" a :Illgtll; bag; I The/shook 91.

ing fingers ll'ofthe retaining or locking rod 12, the spring 1i holding the hoo'k 9 out of engagement withtherod 12as soon-as the hook has been released fromthe laterally extendlng fingers 10 thereof. spring 14 will also cause the-fingers or arms H The 6' to be thrown upon theplate 2 and in this 7 way firmlv hold a mail bag between the fine gers 6 and the plate 2. Itshould beundere' stood that the releasing ofthe fingers 6' is accomplished solely by the impact'pfithe ina'il bag which is thrown against the front edgeflof the armst). v This mpact will auto; 1 mati'ca lly release the fingers and the spring I y 14 \villthen" swing the arm to a closed posi ,tio'n, thereby firmly carrying the mail bag toward the plate 9 and firmly holding the mailbag between the 'iingers. 6 and the plateQ.

It of course should :be understood that any suitable-munbeifof fingers 6 may be. em;

ployed and if it should be desired one orv moreof these serlesofifingers such as illus- 'trated in "Fig; l may be employed without departing fromthe spirit of the invention,

as "for instance three set-s of fingers may be employed in 'orderto receive a mail bag and in'view "of the fact that it would be merelv a ClHPllClftlOIl-Of the parts to use. a a

plurality of these fingers for receiving the mail bag, it is thought unnecessary to illusttrate and describethe same in detail It of course should be understood that certain detail mechanical changes may be made in the present invention "without departing from the spirit thereof, so long as these changes fall Within the scope of the appe de im "fl Vhatis'claimedisz 1. In a device of the classidescribed', the combination of a supporting plate, a retaining bar-carried by said plate and'havring-a crosshead atits" outer end, a mail bag receiving member hingedly mounted upon -'one end of said plate, a latching hook supported by said receiving imem'ber, and 1e =S1l1e11t means for normally urging said hook onedirectiomsaid hook being adapted to engage saidicrosshead to hold the receiving imeinber'ziir a set position, although when the ireceiviiig=,member is swung slightly in one ;direction said resilient means will swing said hook from engagement with said cross 2; 'InaIdevice of the class described, the

l'comb'ination of supporting means, a retainiingibair carried bv-said means and having a f'crosshead .at its outer end, amail bag receiving member pivoted on said plate, a

. 'lat'ching hook pivotally mounted upon the rodmember and including a pair of claws, a spring connected tothe said hooks and said plate, said claws fitting upon each side ofvsaid bar to engage said head and thus hold the receiving member in a set position, L

although when the receiving member is swung slightly in one direction said spring willmove saidclaws into engagement with said cross head thus allowing the tension of the spring to. swing said receiving member into engagement with said'pla-te.

3. In a device of the class described, the combination ofa supporting plate, a mail bag receiving member pivotally mounted upon said plate, a bar carriedby said receiving member, a latching hook pivotally mounted upon said bar, a coil spring connected to said plate and said hook, and retaining means carried by said plate, said hook engaging said retaining means for holding said receiving member in a set position although when said receiving member is swung slightly in one direction said spring will move the hook from engagement with the retaining means and thus allow the snring to swing said receiving member into engagement with the said plate.

In testimonvwhereof I afiix my signature.

CYNTHIA BETTIGREW.

Q9pies 1of this patent ma'ylbe obtained for five cents each, by addressing the "Commissioner of Patents. r Washington,.D.-G. 

